The Environmental Protection Agency has pulled a permit that would have allowed Powertech USA to begin testing its in-situ uranium mining techniques at the massive Centennial mine site in in western Weld County.

The EPA issued its ruling on Monday, saying it may issue a draft Underground Injection Control permit within the next few weeks.

In January, Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction filed a petition with the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board in Washington, D.C., asking the panel to review a permit that allowed Powertech to reinject groundwater from an aquifer-pump test at the site.

The appeal claims the EPA failed to gather relevant information from pump tests performed by Powertech in 2008 in the same geologic formation, one as close as 500 feet from the currently proposed injection well.

Some of those bore holes have been documented as improperly sealed, raising concerns of cross-contamination of the aquifers that could be exacerbated by the pump test and injection, CARD wrote.

“The Petitions raised substantial issues with the permit warranting re-evaluation by EPA and they were right to withdraw it” nearby landowner and CARD co-founder Jay Davis said Wednesday night.

In withdrawing the permit, EPA indicated that it will release a revised draft permit within the next several weeks, and accept a new round of public comments. EPA Assistant Regional Administrator Steve Tuber promised “full transparency” and a “rigorous” analysis in the new draft permit.

Powertech, a Canadian company, wants to use in-situ mining methods on 10,000 acres in Weld County.

In-situ involves pumping a fluid into the ground to loosen uranium and then pumping the fluid out of the ground to bring the uranium up to the surface.

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